Passage for patients

ABSTRACT

Means providing a patients&#39;&#39; passage between a sterile room and a non-sterile room with a wall separating the two rooms are characterized by a substantially horizontal table-like plate adapted to the width of the passage for moving preferably lying patients from one room to the other. The edges of the plate on both sides of the wall are adapted to the level of the bearing surface of the patient.

United States Patent 1 Adelhed 1 1 PASSAGE FOR PATIENTS [75] Inventor:Terje Adelhed, Jakobsberg, Sweden [73] Assignee: SiemensAktiengesellschaft, Munich,

Germany 22 Filed: Dec.4, 1973 21 Appl. No.: 421,610

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Dec. 4, 1972 Germany 2259347 [52]US. Cl 49/70; 5/81 R; 128/1 R [51] Int. Cl E06b 7/00 [58] Field ofSearch 128/1 R, 1 B; 312/1, 3; 49/70; 52/36, 32, 33, 29; 108/1, 7, 36,50,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,830,331 4/1958 Oakes 49/70[451 May 20, 1975 3,593,351 7/1971 Dove 5/81 R 3,678,921 7/1972Brendgard et a1. 128/1 R 3,690,608 9/1972 Poizner 108/7 FOREIGN PATENTSOR APPLICATIONS 1,541,341 9/1969 Germany 5/81 R Primary Examiner-KennethDowney Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Richards & Geier [57] ABSTRACT Meansproviding a patients passage between a sterile room and a non-sterileroom with a wall separating the two rooms are characterized by asubstantially horizontal table-like plate adapted to the width of thepassage for moving preferably lying patients from one room to the other.The edges of the plate on both sides of the wall are adapted to thelevel of the bearing surface of the patient.

1 Claim, 2 Drawing Figures RHENTEU W2 01975 SHEET 1 BF 2 PASSAGE FORPATIENTS This invention relates to means providing a patients passage ina wall separating a sterile room from a nonsterile room.

There is a usual procedure in hospitals to remove the supporting plateof the operational table and to move it upon a car frame to a so-calledpreparing room, so that a patient who is being transported upon a bed ora movable carrier can be shifted from bed to bed. The narcosispreparation mostly takes place in this preparing room. Thereafter, thesupporting plate of the operational table with the patient is moved uponthe car frame into the operational room and is there placed again uponthe base of the operational table. This manner of work was foundunsatisfactory, since it moves germs into the space of the sterileoperational room.

In order to prevent the passage of germs by the car frames, it is knownto provide a breakthrough in a wall separating the section of thesterile operational room from the non-sterile space and to provide inthis breakthrough a supporting arm swingable in a horizontal plane fromone room to the other and carrying holding means for grasping thesupporting plate. According to this construction, the car frames for thesupporting plate of the operational table remain in the sterile or inthe non-sterile space. The drawback of this construction is that thesupporting plate of the operational table, as before, must be moved intothe non-sterile space, so that it loses its sterility and can carrygerms from the non-sterile space into the sterile space.

An object of the present invention is to provide simple andpatient-saving means for moving the patients into the sterileoperational room while preventing the passage of the largest possibleamount of germs into the operational room.

In accomplishing the objectives of the present invention, asubstantially horizontal table-like plate is provided, adapted to thewidth of the breakthrough and used for transporting preferably lyingpatients from one room to the other one. The edges of the plate on bothsides of the wall are adapted to the level of the bearing surface of thepatients.

With this device, for example, a patient being transported upon amovable lying carrier can be shifted or pulled over the table-like plateadapted to the level of the carrier directly upon a supporting plate ofan operational table prepared upon a car frame and located upon oneother side of the passage. Due to this arrangement, the operationaltable, with its supporting frame and its car frame, remains within therange of the sterile operational room, while all the transporting andsupporting means for the patient used in the non-sterile space remainsin the non-sterile space. Thus, the transporting and supporting meansfor the patient cannot transport any more germs into the operationalroom. In this case, only the patient is moved into the sterile range ofthe operational room, so that only the surface of the supporting plateupon which the patient lies can be made non-sterile by the patienthimself. All other parts of the supporting plate of the operationaltable, as well as its car frame, which must be grasped and shifted forthe further transportation of the patient and his proper operationalpositioning, remain sterile. Thus, the moving of germs is prevented to avery great extent.

According to a further development of the present invention, thetransmission of germs into the range of the sterile operational room isstill further reduced by the use of a wall part constructed as a closuremember, adapted to the width of the passage and supported so as to beshiftable vertically. In that case, when the passage is not used, theoperational room can be closed relatively to the non-sterile preparingroom by the corresponding shifting of the wall part.

In accordance with a further very important development of the presentinvention, the table-like plate can be fixed upon the upper edge of themovable wall part. In that case, when a patient is moved to theoperational room, it is merely necessary to move his bed to the closedpassage, then lower the wall part with the tablelike plate to thesupporting plane of the patient, and then pull the patient over thetable-like plate upon the supporting plate of the operational tablereadily located on the other side of the passage upon its car frame.

According to a still further advantageous embodiment of the presentinvention, the movement of patients from a nonsterile room to a sterileroom and back again is facilitated when the edges of the tablelike plateextend on both sides of the wall, have longitudinal thicknesses of onlya few millimeters and are bent downwardly. Due to this construction, thetable-like plate does not have to be lowered any more between thesupporting means for the patient upon the sterile and non-sterile sides,but can be lowered with its outstanding bent edge directly upon the bedof the patient or the supporting plate of the operating table. When thepatient is shifted, the bent edges of the table-like plate hold firmlyhis bed as well as the supporting plate of the operational table. Theedges, due to their small thickness and their bending, cannot form anyhanging holder for the patient.

A further particularly advantageous embodiment of the present inventionis provided when the table-like plate is arranged along its extendingedges so as to be tiltable. Then the table-like plate can lie in itslowered position with its two longitudinal edges upon patientssupporting plates of different heights. Then it is not necessary to havea special adjustment of the supporting height of the means transportingthe patients.

According to a further advantageous development of the presentinvention, a second wall part can be arranged over the first wall partso as to be movable vertically relatively thereto. This makes itpossible to select at will the height of the passage opening. Thiscannot be attained with the first wall part alone, which must be loweredfor the taking over of a patient to his bearing plane.

Yet another preferable embodiment of the present invention provides aparticularly convenient handling of the passage by making the secondwall element optically transparent. Then the operator can see quicklyand prior to the opening of the passage whether the supporting plate ofthe operating table or the bed of the patient are ready upon the otherside of the passage. Furthermore, such a large optically transparentwindow is of advantage also during an operation since it providescontinuous optical contact between persons in the sterile operationalroom and the preparatory room.

The invention will appear more clearly from the following detaileddescription when taken in connection with the accompanying drawingsshowing, by way of example only, preferred embodiments of the inventiveidea.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a patients passage with two wall partsmovable independently from each other.

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a patients passage with asingle movable wall part.

FIG. 1 shows in sections a wall 4 separating a sterile space 1 from anon-sterile space 2 and provided with a patients passage 3. This wallconsists of two shells extending above and below the patients passagewhich has a width of about 2 meters. Thus the wall has hollow spaces 5and 6 above and below the passage. A wall part 8 is located in the upperspace 5 and a wall part 7 is located in the lower space 6. The wallparts 7 and 8 are movable in height between sealing lips 9 to 16. Thelower wall part 7 is movable vertically by a spindle 18 driven by amotor 17. The upper wall part 8 hangs upon ropes 19, one of which isshown in the drawing. The ropes are wound upon drums 21 (only one shown)which are drawn by a further motor 20. Upon the upper edge of the lowerpart 7 is fixed a table-like plate 22 which extends over the entirewidth of the passage 3 and on both sides of the wall 4. This table-likeplate consists of a plate of non-rusting steel of only a few millimetersthickness and has longitudinal edges 23 and 24 which are both bentdownwardly. The upper wall part 8 consists of a frame 25 carrying aglass disc 26. The drawing shows a patient 28 lying upon a movablecarrier 27 which has been moved to the passage 3. In the sterile room 1is located a supporting plate 30 mounted upon a car frame 29 andconstituting a part of an operating table. The lower wall part 7 islowered to such an extent that the table-like plate 22 lies with itsdownwardly bent edges upon the mattress 31 of the movable patientcarrier 27 as well as upon the lying surface 32 of the supporting plate30 of the operating table. In order to balance the different levels ofthe mattress 31 of the patient carrier 27 or of the patients bed on theone hand and the bearing plate 30 of the operational table located onthe other side of the passage on the other hand, the table-like plate isfixed by a guide piece 33, an anchor 34 and a pressure spring 35 uponthe lower wall part 7.

When not in use. the passage 3 is closed by raising the lower wall part7 and lowering the upper wall part 8 until they engage each othersubstantially in the middle of the passage 3. A sealing closure of thepassage 3 is provided in this position by the sealing lips 36 and 37,provided upon the lower side of the upper wall part 8 and by sealinglips 9 to 16, located between the wall parts 7 and 8 and the wall 4.Since the upper wall part 8 is transparent, a person can easily observewhat is taking place in the other room.

In order to transport a patient from a non-sterile room 2 into a sterileroom, the patient with his bed or movable car frame 27 is moved to thewall 4 along the closed passage 3. In the sterile operational room, thesupporting plate 30 of the operational table is removed from its base(not shown) and is also placed along the other side of the passage by amovable support 29. When this is accomplished, which can be easilydetermined by the transparency of the upper wall part. the lower wallpart is moved downwardly by actuating the motor 17 with its spindle 18,until the horizontal tablelike plate 22 of the lower wall part 7 willlie on the one hand upon the mattress 31 of the bed or patients supportand upon the other side of the wall upon the supporting surface 32 ofthe supporting plate 30 of the operational table. Due to the provisionof the downwardly bent edges 23 and 24 of the horizontal plate, thepatient carrying frame 27 or bed as well as the supporting plate 30 ofthe operational table are firmly held in this position. Since thetable-like plate 22 is fixed upon the lower wall part 7 by aspring-engaged armature 34, it can assume, in case of different levelsof the supporting planes, an included position on both sides of thepassage, as indicated by broken lines on the drawing.

Thereupon, the upper wall part 8 is raised by actuating the motor 20 andthe cords 19 to an extent which would appear necessary for a convenienttransmitting of the patient from one room to the other one. The patient28 can be pushed or pulled for that purpose. With the exception of thepatient. no non-sterile parts are moved from the non-sterile room 2 intothe sterile room 1. Consequently, only the lying surface 32 of thesupporting plate 30 of the operational table upon which the patientlies, as well as the surface of the horizontal plate 22, becomenon-sterile by the patient. All other parts of the supporting plate, theoperational table and the car frame 29, which are important for furthertreatment within the sterile operational room, remain sterile.

After the patient has been moved into the sterile room, the lower wallpart 7 can be raised by its motor and the upper part 8 lowered until thepassage 7 is again closed. The moving of a newly operated patient fromthe operational room into the non-sterile room can take place in thecorresponding manner.

FIG. 2 illustrates a different. more simple construction, wherein apassage 38 for the patient is provided in a wall 39 between a sterilespace 40 and a non-sterile space 41, the wall having a single wall part42 adjustable in height. This adjustable wall part 42 is also providedat its upper edge with a table-like plate 43 which extends over theentire width of the passage 38 in the wall 39. The table-like plate 43extends with its two longitudinal edges 44 and 45 which are bentdownwardly into the spaces 40 and 41 on both sides of the wall 39. Inthis case, in order to close the wall passage, this wall part, with itstable-like plate 43, must be raised to the upper edge of the passage 38.In the lowered portion shown in FIG. 2, the table-like plate 43 islocated on one side upon the edge of a mattress 46 of a patients bed 47,and on the other side, upon the edge of the lying surface 48 of asupporting plate 49 of an operational table which was moved by a carframe 50 to the wall for receiving a patient. The movement of a patientfrom one room to the other one takes place in the same manner as wasdescribed in connection with the embodiment of FIG. 1; merely theactuation of the upper wall part is eliminated. In this case, anair-tight connection of the sterile space sealing lips (not shown) mustbe provided at the upper end of the passage which, when the wall part 42is moved upwardly, can engage the table-like plate 43.

Instead of the electromotorically driven spindle 18 shown in FIG. 1, anysuitable hydraulic device can be used for the shifting of the wallparts. Furthermore, the anchor 34 shown in FIG. 1 can be connected witha switch which will interrupt the downward movement of the table-likeplate 22 when its edges 23 and 24 engage an obstruction; for example.the supporting plate of the operational table, so that it is raisedrelatively to the wall part 7 by a predetermined maximum stretch.

I claim:

1. A passage for patients formed in a wall separating a sterile roomfrom a non-sterile room, comprising a substantially horizontaltable-like plate for transferring the patients from one room to theother one, said plate being adapted to the width of the passage andhaving longitudinal sides extending on both sides of the wall, the edgesof said longitudinal sides being adaptable each one to the bearingsurface of the patients on its side of the wall, a lower wall partconstructed as a closure member adapted to the width of the passage,means supporting said lower wall part upon the wall for verticalmovement and for partially closing the passage,

said first wall part.

1. A passage for patients formed in a wall separating a sterile roomfrom a non-sterile room, comprising a substantially horizontaltable-like plate for transferring the patients from one room to theother one, said plate being adapted to the width of the passage andhaving longitudinal sides extending on both sides of the wall, the edgesof said longitudinal sides being adaptable each one to the bearingsurface of the patients on its side of the wall, a lower wall partconstructed as a closure member adapted to the width of the passage,means supporting said lower wall part upon the wall for verticalmovement and for partially closing the passage, said table-like platebeing mounted upon the top of said lower movable wall part for swingingmovement relative to its edges, said edges being bent downwardly andhaving a thickness of a few millimeters, a second wall part situatedabove said first-mentioned wall part, and means supporting said secoNdwall part upon the wall for vertical movement against said first wallpart for closing the passage, the second wall part being opticallytransparent, the means supporting said second wall part operating itindependently from the means supporting said first wall part.